CRCL Sell-Off: Open Standard Stablecoin Wins Support from 140+ Heavyweights
Circle Internet Group (NYSE: CRCL), a leading crypto-themed stock in U.S. equities, suffered a sharp decline on Tuesday, closing down 17.55% at $62.63 — entering its historical low range. Market-moving news came from the Open Standard project, which announced backing from over 140 companies spanning payments, banking, asset management, crypto-native and tech sectors. The supporter list includes Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Stripe, BlackRock, Coinbase, Google, BNY Mellon, Standard Chartered, DBS, U.S. Bank, Shopify, DoorDash, IBM, and others. The project's stablecoin, Open USD, is scheduled to launch in late 2026 and will be deployed on Base (Coinbase), Solana, Stellar, Polygon, and Ripple networks.
Russell Index Removal Adds Selling Pressure
Beyond the competitive threat from Open Standard, CRCL faced mechanical selling due to index rebalancing. According to reports, the Russell Indices adjusted their compositions after market close on June 26, removing CRCL from several major growth indices including Russell 1000 Growth. Passive funds and ETFs tracking these indices are forced to sell CRCL shares automatically, compounding downward pressure. Analysts note that as the parent company of USDC, Circle’s stock is highly sensitive to shifts in the stablecoin landscape. The emergence of Open Standard, combined with index outflows, may continue to weigh on CRCL in the near term.